Grand-piano action.



J. F. CONOVER, GRAND PIANO ACTION.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. F. CONOVER.

GRAND PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1916.

Patented Feb 13,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 JAMES F. CO NOVER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAND-PIANO ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed February 16, 1916. Serial No. 78,570.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. CONOVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State 01'? Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grand-Piano Actions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to piano actions, and has for its object, the provision of a simple and eihci'ent device of this character capable of being operated in very quick suc cession, and one in which the energy required to operate the hammer is quite small. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

An embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a at the end oi each of its downward strokes.

part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a view of a piano action em- 1 oi the hammer in very rapld succession, the

bodying my invention, at rest.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same showing the key pressed downwardly to its lower terminal of movement, and the hammer in contact with the string.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but showing the hammer at the end of its return movement; and

Fig. 4: is a similar view showing the key raised slightly, and the hammer raised to position for a repetition stroke.

The piano action illustrated is arranged for use in grand pianos, but it may be applied to upright pianos as well, by slight changes in sizes and shapes of parts thereof, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have shown a piano key 6 pivoted as at 7 in a conventional manner. The key 6 is provided with the usual padded bases or stops 8, one at either end, which are'of conventional designs. In the key 6 is provided a capstan screw 9, also of the conventional design and which is adapted to engage a wippen 10. The wippen 10 is pivoted, asat 11, to a flange 12 and the latter is secured to an action rail 13. The action rail 13 extends entirely across the piano and is adapted to hold all of the flanges 12 in the piano. The wippen 10 is provided with a slot, which extends substantially between the dotted lines 1% in Fig. 3. Said slot provides an opening in which a jack 15 is pivoted to the wippen, as at 16. The upper end of the jack is adapted to engage a knuckle or cushion 17, secured to the under side of the hammer butt 18. Said hammer butt is pivoted, as at 19, to a flange 20, which is secured to a rail 21. The rail extends throughout the width of the piano and is adapted to support all oi the hammer butts and flanges 20 in the piano. Upon downward movement of the end 6 of the key, capstan screw 9 moves the wippen 1O upwardly about its pivotal point 11 and raises the jack 15 against the knuckle 17 to move the hammer butt 18 upwardly to carry the hammer 22 against the string 23 to produce the musical sound of the string.

The parts already mentioned are sufficient to actuate the hammer provided the key 6 is allowed to return to its normal position In order to produce repetition or strokes parts described hereinafter are provided. The'hereinafter described parts make it unnecessary to permit the key end 6 to rise 52 its1 full height, or the position shown in In the slot in wippen 10, between dotted lines 14: in Fig.3, a lever 24 is pivoted, as at 25. One end of the lever is provided with an upwardly extending portion 26, which is adapted to be engaged by a button 27, and the latter is carried on a screw 28 fitted in a rail 29. The rail 29. extends through the width of the piano and carries all of the buttons 27 usedin thepiano. A light spring 30, is mounted in a recess 31 in the rail 29 and is connected to the extension 26 by means of a cord loop 32. The spring 30 is mounted so that its tendency is to draw the extension 26 toward the rail 29. In the position shown in Fig. '1, the weight of the wippen and parts mounted thereon, together with the hammer, overcomes the strength of spring 30 and separates the extension 26 and button 27. By providing a space be tween the button 27 and the extension 26, the first part of the downward stroke of key end 6 only moves the wippen -10, jack 15 and hammer butt 18, to begin the movement of the hammer. After the hammer has begun to move and some momentum attained by it, the extension 26 engages the button 27 and moves lever 24. on its pivotal point 25 to push the upper end of jack 15 from under knuckle 17, as will be described hereinafter. The upper end of jack '15 is removed from under knuckle 17 just before the hammer 22 engages the string 23, so that there is no tendency for the hammer to remain in contact with the string.

On the lever 24, I provide an upright 33, which has a repetition lever 34-, pivoted as at 35, to its upper end. A hook stop 36 is mounted in the lever 24- and adapted to limit the pivotal movement of repetition lever 3a in one direction. A button 37, carried on a screw 38, is provided in the repetition lever 3%: to limit the movement of the latter inthe opposite direction. A spring 39 is mounted in the upright 33 and connected by means of a loop l to the repetition lever, and adapted to hold the button 37 against the lever 24, to hold the repetition lever at one terminal of' its pivotal movement. The other end of repetition lever 34 is provided with a roller 41, which is adapted to cooperate with a cam 42 carried on the hammer butt 13 adjacent the knuckle 17 A bumper as is secured to the upright 33 and is provided with a roller A l which is adapted to engage a button 4-5 on a screw to threaded in the jack 15. The arrangement is such, that when lever 2% moves on its pivotal point beyond a certain point, the roller 4E4 engages button as and pushes the upper end of ack from under knuckle 17, just before hammer 22 engages string 23. A spring A? is mounted in jack 15 and connected to upright 33 by a cord loop 18 secured to the latter. The spring is adapted to move the jack on its pivotal point toward the upright and such movement is limited by a button d9 connected with the jack engaging a stop 50 on the wippen 10.

The parts are all'shown at rest or in their normal positions in Fig. 1. The parts shown in Fig. 2 are in their respective positions when thehammer has just reached the string 23 and the key end 6 is at the lower terminal of its movement. Upon the wippen 10 moving upwardly it raises lever 2-Ll without any pivotal movement of the latter until projection 26 engages button or stop 27. When projection 26 engages stop 27, lever 2a. is moved on its pivotal point causing the bumper roller 4% to engage the button to move the jack from under knuckle 17 just before the hammer 22 engages the string 23. As the roller tt is moved substantially horizontally, the repetition lever 3-il carried on the upright 33 is also moved substantially horizontal under the cam 42. The shape of the cam 42 and position of repetition lever 845 is such, that when hammer 22 strikes the string 23, neither the j aek 15 or the roller 11 is exerting any force on the hammer butt.

Upon the hammer engaging with the string 23, the resiliency of the latter causes the hammer 22 to return with considerable speed. The return movement of the hammer causes the cam A2 to engage roller 41 and move the repetition lever 831. on its pivotal point 35 against the action of spring 39. The hammer 22 is finally stopped in its return or downward movement by the countercheck 51 on the hammer engaging abackeheck 52 on the key 6. The friction between the backcheck and countercheck is sufficientto hold the hammer and parts connected therewith in their positions indicated in Fig. 3, until key end 6 is released. Upon slightly releasing key end 6 substantially from the position shown in Fig. 3, to that shown in Fig. l, backeheck 52 is disengaged from countercheck 51 thereby releasing the hammer and permitting the latter to be raised by spring 39 acting through repetr tion lever 34:, roller ll, cam A2 and hammer butt 13. This upward movement of the hammer is limited by step 37 coming into engagement with the lever 2A. This movement of the repetition lever moves the hammer '22 to its position shown in Fig. l, caused by the roller l1 engaging cam e2 on the hammer butt. The spring 17 moves the upper end of jack 15 again under the knuckle 17 as soon as the hammer butt is lifted by the repetition lever, as indicated in Fig. at. l Vhen the action is operated in very quick successions, the countercheck 51 does not engage the backchecl; In such a case. the spring 39 acting through the repetition lever catches the hammer and holds the latter up permitting the spring A7 to move the jack under the knuckle 17 in position for the repetition blow. This arrangement pro vides means whereby repetition of the move ments oi the action may be had in very quick successions, giving clear distinct tones to the string.

When the parts are permitted to return to their normal positions, as indicated in Fig. 1, the pivotal movement of lever 2 is limited by a button 53 carried on one end of the lever which engages the wippen 10. l-Vhen in normal position, the roller 4-1 on repetition lever 3A is adapted to engage a button carried on the hammer butt 18 to limit the downward movement or" the hammer, thereby holding-the hammer butt a slight distance above a cushion 55 carried on the wippen 10. The button 54: is car ried on a screw 56 threaded in the hammer butt so that the button 51 may be adjusted to hold the hammer butt at ditlerent positions from the cushion 55 as desired.

1t will be noted that the particular arrangement of the parts causes the repetition lever to be moved longitudinally of the hammer butt during the operation of the action which with the particular form of surface of the cam causes the roller ll to always be very close to or in engagement with the cam 12 preventing any loss of time or motion in the action.

While I have illustrated and described the ireferred forms of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the precise details set forth, but, desire to avail myself of such variations and changes as come Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim l. A piano action comprising a hammer hutt; a wippen; a jack pivoted to the wippen and having a connection with the hammer butt; a lever pivoted on the wippen; a fixed stop; means on the lever adapted to disconnect the jack from the hammer butt upon the latter engaging said stop and a repetition leverpivotedto said first mentioned lever, said repetition lever being adapted to be moved by the hammer butt upon the return movement of the latter to facilitate reconnecting the jack with the hammer butt.

A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a wippen; a jack pivoted to the wippen and having a connection with the hammer butt; a lever pivoted on the wippen; a fined stop; means on the lever adapted to engage the stop and disconnect the jack from the hammer butt; a spring pressed repetition lever pivoted on said first mentioned lever and adapted to temporarily resist the return movement of the hammer butt; and s ring engaging the jack and adapted to reconnect the latter with the hammer butt while the repetition lever is temporarily retarding the return movement of said hammer butt.

3. A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a wippen; a. jack pivoted to the wippen and having a connection with the hammer butt; a lever pivoted on the wippen; a fixed stop; means on the lever adapted to engage the stop and disconnect the jack from the hammer butt; a cam on the hammer butt; a repetition lever pivotally mounted and having one of its ends adapted to engage the am upon the return movement of the hammer butt to retard the return movement of the latter; and a spring engaging the jack and adapted to reconnect the jack with the hammer butt while the latter is being retarded upon its rcturnmovement.

4, A piano action comprising an oscillatory hammer butt; knuckle on the hammer butt; a cam on the hammer butt adjacent the knuckle; a wippen; a jack mounted on the wippen and engaging the hammer butt; a lever mounted on the wippen; a repetition lever mounted on the first mentioned lever; and means on the first mentioned lever for disengaging the ack from the knuckle before the return movement of the hammer butt begins; said cam being adapted to engage the repetition lever upon the return movement of the hammer butt to facilitate reengagcment of the jack and knuckle.

5. A piano action comprising an oscillatory hammer butt; a knuckle on the hammer butt; a cam on the hammer butt adjacent the knuckle; a wippen; a jack mounted on the wippen and engaging the hammer butt; a lever mounted on the wippen; a repetition lever mounted on the first men tioned lever; means on the first mentioned lever for disengaging the jack from the knuckle before the return movement of the hammer butt begins, said cam being adapted to engage the repetition lever upon the return movement of the hammer butt to retard the return movement of the latter; and a spring connected with the jack and adapted to bring the latter into engagement again with the knuckle while the hammer butt is being retarded.

6. A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a cam and a knuckle on the hammer butt; a wippen; a jack pivoted to the wippen and engaging the knuckle; a fixed stop; a lever pivoted to the wippen; a means on said lever adapted to disengage the jack from the knuckle; a repetition lever pivotally mounted on said first mentioned lever; a stop at one end of the repetition lever adapted to limit the pivotal movement of the latter in one direction; a spring yieldably holding the stop on the repetition lever against the first mentioned lever; a roller on the other end of the repetition lever adapted to engage the cam upon the return movement of the hammer butt and retard the return movement of the latter; and a spring connected with the jack and adapted to move the jack into rengagement with the knuckle while the hammer butt is being retarded.

7. A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a cam and a knuckle on the hammer butt; a wippen; a jack pivoted to the wippen and engaging the knuckle; a fixed stop; a lever pivoted to the wippen; a means on said lever adapted to disengage the jack from the knuckle; a repetition lever pivotally mounted on said first mentioned lever; a stop at one end of the repetition lever adapted to limit the pivotal movement of the latter in one direction; a spring yieldably holding the stop on the repetition lever against the first mentioned lever; a roller on the other end of the repetition lever adapted to engage the cam upon the return movement of the hammer butt and move the repetition lever against the influence of the spring connected with the latter; a countercheck connected with the hammer; a backcheck adapted to engage the countercheck and arrest the return movement of the hammer, the spring connected with. the repetition lever being adapted to move the repetition lever and raise the hammer butt when the countercheck and backcheck are disconnected; and a spring connected with the jack and adapted to bring the latter into engagement. again with the knuckle when he hammer butt has been moved by the repetition lever.

8. A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a Wippen; a jack pivoted to the Wip' pen and having a connection with the hammer butt; a fixed stop; a lever pivoted to the Wippen; means on the lever adapted to engage the step and disconnect the jack from the hammer; a repetition lever pivotally mounted on tie first mentioned lever; a stop on the repetition lever limiting the movement 01 one end of the latter toward the first mentioned lever; and a step on the ii first mentioned lever adapted to engage the wippen and limit the movement of one end of the first mentione lever toward the Wippen.

9. A piano action comprising a hammer butt; a Wippen; a jack pivoted to the Wippen and having a connection with the hammer butt; a fixed stop; a lever pivoted to the wippen; a projection on the lever adapted to engage the stop and disconnect the jack from the hammer butt; a cam on the hammer butt; and a repetition lever pivoted on the first mentioned lever and adapted to be engaged by the cam upon the return movement of the hammer butt.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 11th day of February, A. D. 1916.

JridES F. CONOV Witnesses:

CHAS. M. Nissan CHARLES H. SEEM.

fiopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

